Homesteads on Fort Richardson, Alaska - The USARAK Home Page ...

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Figure 7. Benson Hitchcock,1942. Courtesy of AnchorageMuseum of History and Art.Liston Passport photos,B89.16.Benson and Kathryn HitchcockBenson and Kathryn Hitchcock were marriedin April of 1941. Benson applied forhomestead entry in 1937. The governmentpurchased the improvements for $850 inJune of 1941. Their parcel of land wassmaller than most homesteads, being only38.12 acres. Benson was a licensed Alaskanguide. 87 Little further information regardingthe couple is known.John Joseph KenoteJohn Kenote applied for homestead entryin 1937 and was granted patent in 1942. Hebuilt an 18’ x 18’ house on the homestead.The house had a combination living roomand bedroom, with a kitchen and dining room. Kenote was not married at the time. Henow resides in Washington. John Kenote declined to participate in this study.James MurrayFigure 8. Kathryn Hitchcock,1942. Courtesy of AnchorageMuseum of History and Art.Liston Passport photos,B89.16.James Murray had a homestead on the western border of Alvin and Edwin Meier’sclaims. He filed for entry in 1937 and relinquished the claim for $690 in 1941.Murray was a bachelor and was well acquainted with the Meier brothers. The threeof them built the Oil Well Road leading to their homesteads, taking over two years.Murray had a dog team of eighteen to twenty dogs. The dogs were malamute andwolf crosses. Edwin Meier Jr. recalls that when the dogs made too much noise,Murray would go outside and crack a bullwhip to quiet them down. The whip crackcould be heard a mile away at the Meier homestead. 88Murray was a trapper and did some commercial fishing in the summers. He did nothave a car and walked into town whenever he needed to. 89 Murray built a 12' x 14'cabin on the property along with several outbuildings. It is not known what happenedto him after he relinquished the homestead claim.Robert and Florence PrizerFigure 9. Prizer's first house on the homestead, later convertedto a garage. From collection of Ruth Pihl.3487John Bagoy, personal interview, 23 June 2000.88Edwin Meier Jr., personal interview, 10 July 2000.89Doris Meier, personal interview, 12 July 2000Robert Prizer was born in 1886 and FlorencePrizer was born in 1885. Both were originallyfrom Kansas. The couple had three children,all born in Kansas: Irene born 1914, and twinsRobert and Ruth born in 1918. The Prizer familymoved to Alaska from Oregon in 1935. Robertand Florence were teachers. Mr. Prizer hadarranged for a job in the Anchorage High Schoolbefore moving to the territory. For the first fewyears the Prizers and the twins lived in town.<strong>Homesteads</strong> on Fort RichardsonAlaska
The children attended high school. Meanwhile,Irene Prizer taught school – one year in the Aleutiansand one year in Wasilla, before marryingFred Braun in 1938. In 1939, Ruth Prizer marriedMaurice Pihl. Robert Jr. remained single.The Prizers filed for homestead entry in 1937.They lived continuously on the land until 1941,when the government purchased the homesteadfor $7,000. This was the highest price paid for ahomestead in the Fort Richardson area. ThePrizers never received a patent to the land, butwere on the verge of doing so when ExecutiveFigure 10. The Prizer log house. From collection of Ruth Order 8102 was issued. Thus all requirementsPihl.for the issuance of patent had been met. Initially,the Prizer family lived in a frame tent. Eventually,they erected two houses. First they built a small, 14' x 18', one room housethat was later converted to a garage.A year later they built a 25' x 29' log house, with five rooms. It had a bath,fireplace, hot air heating system, full basement, water system and a small garage.There were two wells on the property, one 32-feet deep and another thatwas 70-feet deep.The Prizer daughters, Ruth and Irene, were married and had homesteads quitenear to their parents’ land. Robert Prizer Jr. lived on the homestead with hisparents. Mr. Prizer worked as an industrial arts teacher and basketball coach atthe Anchorage High School. His teaching wage served as the family’s main sourceof income. Mrs. Prizer maintained the house and gardens where they cultivatedcrops such as carrots and cabbage.Figure 11. Ruth Pihl infront of her homestead.From collection of RuthPihl.The Prizer homestead was about five miles from town. Weather permitting, theycould drive from town up the partially graveled road to the house. In the springand fall, they often had to leave the car on the road and walk in, sometimesthrough very deep mud. In winter, Robert would sometimes hike into the homesteadon snowshoes. Robert Prizer Jr. had a dog sled team of malamutes. Havinga dog team was practical as well as fun, for Robert used them to go back andforth from town in the winter. Robert Jr. worked for the Alaska Railroad.Robert Prizer was an excellent carpenter and built most of the furniture for thehomestead. The family took a native Alaskan boy as a boarder who was in poorhealth, as he needed to see a doctor every week. He lived with the family for tenyears. His mother was a teacher in the bush, and he stayed with her in the summers.Figure 12. The Prizer'sboarder. Name unknown.From collection of RuthPihl.After the government acquired the land in 1941, the Prizer family moved to theSpenard area. Robert and Florence spent the remainder of their lives in Alaska.Robert retired from teaching in 1950 and passed away in 1962. Florence died in1975. Fred and Irene Braun also stayed in Alaska and still reside there. Ruth and<strong>Homesteads</strong> on Fort RichardsonAlaska35
Page 3 and 4: Homesteads onFort
Page 5: table of contentsCHAPTERS1.0 INTROD
Page 8: may have homesteaded in the area an
Page 11: Chapter 3.0 The EnvironmentFort Ric
Page 15 and 16: Chapter 4.0Early PeopleIt is though
Page 17 and 18: Chapter 5.0AnchorageThe history of
Page 19 and 20: profitable. 32 Ohlson tried, as had
Page 21 and 22: Chapter 6.0World War II and FortEst
Page 23 and 24: Fort Richardson was originally what
Page 25 and 26: Chapter 7.0HomesteadingHomesteading
Page 27 and 28: unsurveyed, a physical description
Page 29 and 30: son. Anchorage was just established
Page 31 and 32: 0 1 2 Miles0 1 2 3 KilometersMap 2.
Page 33 and 34: x 32', which had fallen into disrep
Page 35 and 36: 0 1 2 Miles0 1 2 3 KilometersMap 3.
Page 37 and 38: Map 4: Homesteads
Page 39: eauty shop in downtown Anchorage. P
Page 43 and 44: Chambers built a 12' x 18' log hous
Page 45 and 46: accomplished musician. He played th
Page 47 and 48: William and Lily StoltBill was born
Page 49 and 50: George JohnstonGeorge Johnston file
Page 51 and 52: Folberg. Mannick sold the land to t
Page 53 and 54: Chapter 8.0National Registerof Hist
Page 55 and 56: Hoserud, Robert Prizer, John Thomps
Page 57 and 58: The south room has four bunk bed fr
Page 59 and 60: ReferencesAir Force History. United
Page 61 and 62: Other Sources1920 US CensusBureau o
Page 63 and 64: APPENDIX A: Abbreviations and Acron
Page 65 and 66: Appendix b:APPENDIX A: Abbreviation
Page 67 and 68: Fort RichardsonHOMESTEAD RECORDProp
Page 83 and 84: Appendix c:Records of Unperfected F
Page 91 and 92:
Fort RichardsonHOMESTEAD RECORDProp
Page 93 and 94:
Page 95 and 96:
Page 97 and 98:
Page 99 and 100:
Page 101 and 102:
Page 103 and 104:
Page 105 and 106:
Page 107 and 108:
Appendix d:Land Acquisition and Dis
Page 109 and 110:
Map 5. Land Acquisition/Disposal Hi
Page 111:
Index of HomesteadersCampbell, 26,
show all

Homesteads on Fort Richardson, Alaska - The USARAK Home Page ...

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?